All This Way for the Short Ride: Roughstock Sonnets, 1971-1996: Poems

by Paul Zarzyski, Barbara Van Cleve (Photographer), Teresa Jordan (Foreword)

"Zarzyski, the best of the best, includes over thirty poems . . . which truly showcase his life and soul . . . [and] along with photographs by Barbara Van Cleve capture the grit of the rodeo lifestyle."-- Cowboys and Indians

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an entertaining and moving collection of 32 poems by Montana poet Paul Zarzyski, who belongs to that rarified fraternity of rodeo cowboy poets. The intensity and focus required for riding roughstock are transferred into these highly charged poems, and most of them have the headlong intensity of a high-scoring 8-second ride.

Some of my favorite Zarzyski poems are included in this collection: "Buck," a Christmas-time lament for a dead horse; "To Wallace," a tribute to rancher-poet Wallace McRae; "Partner," about the fierce and loving bond between two rodeo friends, dedicated to Montana writer, Kim Zupan; "Monte Carlo Express - Box 258, 15.3 Miles Home," about reading mail while driving a speeding car; and the high-spirited "Escorting Granny to the Potluck Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed at Bowman's Corner." The best, of course, is the title poem, "All This Way for the Short Ride," about the death of another rider.

There's an appreciative foreword by Wyoming-born western writer, Teresa Jordan, and 27 wonderful black-and-white rodeo photographs by Montana photographer Barbara Van Cleve, taken between the years 1971-1996. An excellent addition to any bookshelf of Western literature.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cowboy poetry that explores the loneliness of the road and the addicted lust to pursue the rodeo circuit.